It's been widely reported and that makes it fact-esque. - Stephen Colbert

At Norwegianity, Mark Gisleson thinks we have to vote Democrat. The argument he makes is weak but it's the only one there is.

They [Republicans] want us tired. They want to create outrage fatigue so we'll stay home on November 2. Fuck you if you don't vote this year, and fuck you twice if you don't vote for Democrats (with very few Blanche Lincolnesque exceptions).

It's not a vote for Obama or the stunted solutions of the Wall Street enabled moderates. It's a vote to kill off the idiocy once and for all. Until the 20% hard right is discredited and humiliated, they will continue to be the "he" in he said/she said.

Axelrod tried to bring Madrak in on common goals. "Let me say this. I really believe this is the most consequential time in our lifetime… We are in a struggle, we are in a fight. We don't have to agree, but we all have to lock arms and move forward here."

He then pivoted, kind of making it sound like both sides need to lower the temperature. "Saying we shouldn't be involved in intramural skirmishes, I couldn't agree more. And that goes on both sides… I'm not lecturing you, I'm speaking to everyone involved on our side. There are big things at stake here. The nature of progressive thought is that we go at it, we trade ideas, and that's as it should be. But we have to come together."

Joe Sestak is officially running for Senate. That's good news. He's hired Chris Bowers to be the campaign's netroots outreach coordinator, which is good news too. Chris explains it all here. I'm happy to have Sestak in the race because I want to see him in the Senate but even if that ends up not happening, this is why we should be grateful that he's making this move:

Further, not only is Representative Sestak much more progressive than Arlen Specter, as Nate Silver has recently shown,
his potential primary challenge has pushed Specter into the Democratic
camp on 97% of all votes, up from only 16% of the time in the month
before Specter's switch. This campaign has already demonstrated real
results.

Specter needs to have his feet held to the fire for some important votes coming up. This will help that cause enormously. You can contribute to Sestak's campaign at Better Democrats 2010. You can sign up to receive email updates of the campaign at Joe Sestak.com.

Bang for the Buck: Boosting the American Economy

Compassionate Conservatism in Action

Molly

"We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war."

Zinn

"[O]ur time, our energy, should be spent in educating, agitating, organizing our fellow citizens in the workplace, in the neighborhood, in the schools. Our objective should be to build, painstakingly, patiently but energetically, a movement that, when it reaches a certain critical mass, would shake whoever is in the White House, in Congress, into changing national policy on matters of war and social justice."

Bono

"True religion will not let us fall asleep in the comfort of our freedom. Love thy neighbor is not a piece of advice, it's a command. ...

God, my friends, is with the poor and God is with us, if we are with them. This is not a burden, this is an adventure."

The Reverend Al Sharpton

Ray wasn't singing about what he knew, 'cause Ray had been blind since he was a child. He hadn't seen many purple mountains. He hadn't seen many fruited plains. He was singing about what he believed to be.

Mr. President, we love America, not because of all of us have seen the beauty all the time.

But we believed if we kept on working, if we kept on marching, if we kept on voting, if we kept on believing, we would make America beautiful for everybody.

Marx

''With adequate profit, capital is very bold. A certain 10 percent will ensure its employment anywhere; 20 percent will produce eagerness, 50 percent positive audacity; 100 percent will make it ready to trample on all human laws; 300 percent, and there is not a crime which it will not scruple, nor a risk it will not run, even to the chance of its owner being hanged.''